


Good Knight

by Aiambia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dark Side!Rey, Emperor Hux, Eventual Smut maybe, Forbidden Romance, Humor, Light Side!Kylo, M/M, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 19:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16859941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiambia/pseuds/Aiambia
Summary: Ben and his team are sent on a mission to locate and infiltrate the royal palace of the First Order. The true palace where the emperor resides is very well hidden, but the Resistance has a lead that they think might help them win the war.While on their first scouting run of the palace, Ben happens to run into the Emperor...only he never realized how beautiful Hux was until they were standing face-to-face.





	1. Swing on By

**Author's Note:**

> HI THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NOTE PLEASE READ ME.
> 
> So, this fic was supposed to be for the 2017 Kylux Reverse Bang. I ended up having a really rough time in the back half of 2017, so I just never finished or posted the fic. I would like to take this time to formally apologize to my artist, Palalife, for not finishing my end of the project. 
> 
> That being said, I would also like all of you, the readers, to know that I'm not proud of this story and I probably won't finish it. The characterization feels wrong to me, as does Kylo and Hux's relationship. It would be too much to rewrite, and finishing the last chapter at this point would be too much of a change in tone.
> 
> So why am I posting this now? Someone asked for it on tumblr, and I figured I would. While it's not my best work and I don't love it, it's telling of how I've grown as a writer (and low-key a diary of what was going on in my life.) These kinds of things should be archived. Good or bad.

 

 

Getting in was easy. It’s getting out that’s the hard part. For starters, it’s too quiet. That always means something’s wrong. Kylo has been hiding in a broom closet for the better part of an hour, waiting for his team to check-in, but they were still one check-in short. As far as he knows, Tauria isn’t in trouble, her signal still showed up on the tracker, but he was getting worried.

Steading himself with a breath, Kylo reaches out with the Force, searching for the patrol guard who would be passing by his hiding place again. The guard has passed by exactly five times, failing to notice Kylo each time. A good thing, though a bit disappointing, considering Kylo accidentally left the door slightly ajar for the first fifteen minutes he was hiding there.

His in-ear comm crackles to life just as the guard rounds the corner.

“ _Jae-Tau checking in._ ” Her voice was hushed, but clear. There was no indication of injury or capture. “ _Sorry for the delay. I overheard a very enlightening conversation that I think our client would be interested in hearing about._ ”

Kylo can feel the guard’s presence drawing closer to the door, but he slows as he reaches the closet.

“ _Ha, are you sure you weren’t just listening to office gossip?_ ” Bivios replied.

Kylo tenses. The guard stares at the door. The corridor is silent save for the conversation coming out of Kylo’s comm, and he knows the guard hears it. The guard reaches for the door controls, and it takes all of Kylo’s self-control to not reach out with the Force and push him away. It would be easy to defend himself, but he isn’t eager for the Knights of Ren to sense him.

“ _You wish, Bi. You’re just jealous that_ I _found something of note on the first night and you didn’t._ ”

“ _Oh really? How do you know I didn’t find anything interesting? Unlike you, I don’t have a big mouth._ ”

“ _You little-_ “

“ _Jae-Tau, Jae-Bi, now is_ not _the time to be arguing._ ” Mallo’s calm, stern voice silences them quickly, but Kylo wishes they would just stop talking altogether.

His mind starts working on over-drive when the door cracks open. He absolutely can not be caught like _this._ Going down in a fight was one thing, but getting captured in a broom closet? He’d be more embarrassed than anything else.

He takes another breath, this time calling the Force to him. It’s a risky move at such a close range, but with only one mind to trick, Kylo is confident he could pull it off. He drags the Force around him like a shroud, covering himself with it. He allows himself to sink into it and imagine that he’s disappeared. He is not there. His presence is not there. Jae-Ky is not in that room.

The guard steps into the closet, eyes scanning the area, but they pass right over Kylo. He looks, he listens, but Kylo is not there. There is no one for the guard to see.

With a quiet “huh,” the guard walks out, shutting the door and continuing his patrol. Kylo lets out a sigh and releases his hold on the Force. His heart is pounding in his chest, but a smile spreads across his face. He almost got caught. How exciting.

“ _Jae-Ky, do you read? Is everything alright?_ ”

“Yes, Ersoona, I’m fine,” Kylo says into his comm. “Just had to avoid capture is all. Of course, it wouldn’t have been a problem if Tau and Bi hadn’t been arguing. Again.”

“ _He started it!_ ”

“ _Well if Tau hadn’t been boasting-_ “

“Shut up. Both of you.” Kylo wishes he could rub at his temples, but his mask is still on. Sometimes, he can’t believe how childish his team is, but then his mother’s words ring in his mind. Something about his attitude reflecting on the rest of the team. “Rally at exit point Gamma in ten minutes. I wanna get out of here before someone _actually_ gets caught.”

“ _Gamma?_ ” Bivios asked. “ _But that’s seven floors up!_ ”

“ _Yeah, for you,_ ” Tauria shot back at him.

Kylo rolls his eyes again, but he can hear them breathing a little harder. If they’re going to argue, at least they were doing it on the way there. As soon as the coast was clear, Kylo dashes out of the closet, running through the hallways they’d mapped earlier that night. He reaches point Gamma in a matter of minutes.

The unguarded bedroom was a little out of the way, in the corner of the palace. The guards only passed it on their rounds, and it was never inspected because there was no guest to occupy it. It was a grand thing, excessive in all things. Silver and platinum seemed to plate every piece of furniture, while the rugs and bedsheets were embroidered with gold.

It was truly a room fit for a king…only, it was so pristine and dusty, Kylo suspected that no one had used it in years.

He leans on the balcony while he waits for his team. The mountains pose for him, showing off their lush forests and icy snow-capped peaks. The night air is pleasantly cool, and the ocean twenty klicks away practically glows in the moonlight. It was no wonder the First Order’s emperor chose to put his castle on Cossyr.

“Enjoying the view?” Ersoona walks up beside him, leaning back on the railing and blocking Kylo’s view of the ocean.

“I was,” Kylo jokes. He turns to address his team. “Everyone here?”

“Yep. You make seven.”

“Jokun?”

“We have…ten minutes before the aerial patrol comes by.” Jokun checks his data pad, fingers flying across the screen. “But if we wait for them to pass, then we’ll have a thirty-minute window.”

Kylo considers it. Waiting is the smart option. They’d have more time to get out of there. Encountering the aerial patrol would be dangerous, especially while they’re trying to evade ground security.

“We can make it,” Tauria says suddenly. She looks at Bivios, and Kylo knows they’re smiling despite the masks hiding their faces. “Ten minutes is enough.”

“Oh, we can _totally_ make it.” Bivios looks back at Kylo.

“Perhaps neither of you understand what Jae-Jo said,” Mallo tells them. “It would be safer to wait.”

“But that’s not fun!” Bivios protests.

“I’m not sure it matters,” Kylo peers over the edge of the railing, already plotting out how he’s going to maneuver around the balconies and uneven parts of the castle’s walls. “Noburso’s already gone.”

The others join him at the balcony and watch as a single figure clad in black jumps from platform to platform, slowly climbing his way down the side of the castle. Sensing the others, he looks up, but only for a moment. With a mock salute, he pushes himself off the wall and freefalls down.

“Oh my god, every kriffing time…” Ersoona complains.

Kylo laughs. He turns to his team again. “Alright, you know what to do. Rendezvous back at base camp, and whatever you do, don’t get caught.” Then, he leans back and lets gravity drag him over the railing.

He can hear Ersoona cursing him as he falls, but it’s drowned out by the adrenaline coursing through him. He free falls for a few seconds, just long enough to watch Tauria, Bivios, and Mallo pass him. He’s fallen maybe thirty stories already, but there were still a few hundred to go. It was a long way down to the ground, but that wasn’t going to stop him from adding a little more risk to the game.

A flag pole jutted out horizontally from the castle walls. With the Force, Kylo slows himself just long enough to grab it. The force of his fall swings him around the pole, and he uses the momentum to flip onto a near-by tower roof. He slides down the side of it, then jumps again, this time to the wall of the main castle building. With the force of impact to propel him and the Force as a booster, Kylo launches himself back towards the tower, in through an open window, and out another window on the other side.

“ _Show-off,_ ” Ersoona says through the comm. Kylo laughs again and dives downward through the open air.

The rest of his team is doing much the same, alternating between free-falling and jumping from one part of the castle to another. As they fall closer to the ground, more towers and spires rise to greet them. Just in time, too.

“ _Jae-Ky, TIE Fighters at your six._ ” Mallo’s warning leaves him just enough time to maneuver behind a spire.

The smooth, plasteel surface (purely cosmetic) is too smooth for him to get a proper grip on, but it’s wide enough to cover him from the passing TIE and at a steep enough angle to slow his fall. The fighter rushes by him just as Kylo slides to a stop, using the Force to keep him on the steep incline of the spire.

“Check in,” Kylo commands as soon as the TIE fighter is gone.

“ _Jae-Tau._ ”

“ _Jae-Bi._ ”

“ _Jae-No._ ”

“ _Jae-Er._ ”

“ _Jae-Ma._ ”

“ _Jae-Jo._ ”

Each of them responds in turn, and when Kylo looks around, he sees them hanging off of towers and spires just like him. They were all safe and accounted for, hanging on using grappling hooks and suction gloves. They’d easily fallen about three hundred meters with another three hundred to go. The towers and spires were much more prominent now, like a jungle of shiny plasteel trees connected to each other by bridges and balconies.

“Patrols will be more frequent as we get lower,” Kylo tells them. “No more freefalling.”

Kylo lets his Force barrier down and jumps to a near-by tower. Its’ roof was significantly flatter, allowing him to land on it. “And be quiet.” He looks pointedly at Taruia and Bivios, and feels a wave of embarrassment from them.

Before any of them can protest, he jumps down again. His feet touch down on a balcony and he immediately backflips towards a flagpole attached to the main building of the castle. Kylo balances on top of the pole for a moment and watches the skies while his team descends.

“Jokun, watch your three,” he says into the comm.

Kylo watches as a guard passes by a window in one of the towers. They don’t seem to notice Jokun as he swings by, but Kylo’s warning was still too late. Distracted, Jokun missteps and slams into the walkway he was aiming to land on.

“ _Jokun!_ ”

There was a resounding _thunk_ of his helmet slamming into the stone. It echoed through the air and sent static into the comm. The rest of the team froze and looked back. They all watched with horror as Jokun began to fall, body limp and unresponsive to any of their shouting.

All of them make a mad dash for him as he falls. Mallo and Tauria go directly for him while Bivios and Noburso try to get below him. Ersoona was closest to him when he fell, and it’s her who warns the rest of them:

“ _He’s falling towards a spire. It’s going to impale him._ ”

Kylo whips his head around, searching for some place he can land, somewhere that’s near-by but sturdy enough for him to stand on. There’s a balcony a few meters to his left and two floors down. Kylo jumps and drops directly onto it.

As soon as his feet are flat on the balcony floor, he thrusts his hands out towards Jokun’s body. Quickly, carefully, he wraps the Force around Jokun. Then, he pushes him up. It takes all of his concentration to do it, and his arms are shaking as he tries to slow Jokun down. It would be easy to stop him mid-fall, but the momentum of the stop may snap his neck. Instead, Kylo has to stop him slowly, but his panic rises the closer Jokun gets to that spire.

Twenty meters, ten meters, five, three, his body is closing in. Though Kylo is trying, it might not be enough. There’s sweat dripping down his forehead and arms are about to give out. Jokun’s getting too close. But then, finally, _finally_ , Bivios and Noburso throw a net under Jokun’s body and start climbing back up.

Not a moment later, Kylo drops him, arms shaking and exhausted. Jokun lands in the net instead of on the spire and they all breathe a sigh of relief.

“ _Oh thank God._ ” Tauria says it, but they were all thinking it.

Kylo looks up to observe their handiwork and almost laughs. There was only half a meter between Jokun and the tip of the spire. They cut it close, but it was enough.

“Alright, get him out of here,” Kylo says, leaning on the balcony railing. “Mallo, check him first. If the wounds aren’t serious then just carry him down.”

“ _And if they’re bad?_ ” The team is silent as they wait for Kylo to respond.

Kylo sighs. “If they’re bad, then use the jet packs and get him out of here.”

“ _Yessir._ ” No one says a word about how that would screw up the mission, but no one needs to. Their team has always been more important than their missions anyway.

For a while, Kylo just watches as they take Jokun away. His arms aren’t shaking anymore, but they still tingle a bit. He scouts the area, taking note of the TIE Fighters flying around above them and the guards passing by windows around them. They need all of the information they can get. If Jokun can’t get back on his feet by morning, the mission will take much longer than any of them care for.

Finishing his scan of the area, Kylo gets ready to jump down again. He didn’t realize it, but he made his way to the center of the castle. The balcony he’s on looks over the front courtyard and gives a beautiful view of the beach a few klicks away. Looking down, he searches for a place where he can jump to when he feels a blaster barrel press against his back.

“If you move, I’ll shoot.” Someone is right behind him.

Kylo throws his hands up in surrender and feels the blaster jam further into his back as he does. He can’t believe he didn’t sense he was being snuck up on.

“Last warning. And don’t even think about contacting that team of yours or I’ll shoot you and dangle your lifeless body from my balcony for the whole galaxy to see.”

Kylo stifles a laugh. Whoever was threatening him didn’t sound nearly as intimidating as they wanted to. Still, he listens. Whoever this is must be extremely skilled for Kylo not to have sensed them. It might be worth it to see who he’s up against.

“That’s a bit morbid.”

“Take off your helmet.” The blaster is jammed against his back harder in response. He doesn’t laugh, then, but he takes off his helmet. The night air is cool against his skin. Kylo holds his helmet in one hand, but keeps them raised.

“Turn around, _slowly_ ,” the pressure against his back disappears, and Kylo hears a slow shuffle backwards.

Idly, he toys with the idea of jumping off the balcony and escaping before his captor can actually restrain him, but it may make things worse. Whoever has caught him might have already called security.

“Alright, I’m turning,” Kylo turns around slowly, hands still in the air.

He’s expecting an officer, or maybe a captain. He expects someone to see someone withered from experience or the scared young eyes of a new politician. Instead, he turns around and sees lush green forests. He sees blazing red fire. He sees a million shining stars on a white sandy beach.

“Wow,” He breathes. His heart might’ve skipped a beat. “Are you an angel or did I just walk into heaven?”

His eyes wander down to properly take him in. Bright red hair, messy from sleep, angry green eyes, freckles that cover his shoulders and chest; Kylo can’t help staring, especially at the other man’s exposed body. He’s wearing only a pair of briefs, a bright pink bathrobe that’s falling off one shoulder, and a pair of slippers shaped like orange cats.

A brief flash of annoyance flashes in the man’s eyes. He pulls his bathrobe closed with his free hand. “Identify yourself.”

“Alright, alright,” Kylo says, a smile spreading across his face. “How about you put down that blaster and I’ll tell you whatever you want?”

“Don’t make me ask again,” the man says. The words are fierce, but there’s a hint of exhaustion makes the threat feel empty, seductive even.

“My name is Kylo.” He dares to take a step forwards. To his merit, the other man doesn’t move back. “What’s your name, Red?”

The man sneers and rolls his eyes. “Ugh, it’s too early for this,” he whispers to himself. Then, louder, “Why are you here?”

“Oh, so I tell you my name, but I don’t get to know yours?” Kylo protests. He takes another step forward, and this time the man takes one step back.

“Don’t come any closer,” he warns. “And you can spare me your games.”

“No games, Red. I just wanna know who you are.” Kylo’s eyes flicker down to the man’s lips. If they were in a bar, they might’ve been kissing already. He doesn’t look easy, though. Maybe he would’ve made Kylo work for it, chat him up and buy him drinks all night.

The hand holding the blaster falters. The man glares at Kylo, studying him carefully. “…You seriously don’t know.” Kylo shrugs, and the man sighs. “Of course. The one time an assassin actually manages to get close to me, they don’t even know who I am.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for not recognizing the emperor of the First Order,” Kylo says sarcastically.

There’s a moment of silence. The man cocks an eyebrow.

“Oh my god, you’re the emperor of the First Order.” Kylo exclaims.

“And you’re an idiot,” The emperor says. He raises the blaster again, holding it level with Kylo’s chest. “Now, tell my why you’re here and I’ll only have you imprisoned for life instead of killed.”

“I’m…uh…” Kylo can hardly process what’s going on. This is Armitage Hux? The fearsome emperor that terrifies the galaxy? This wasn’t what he imagined. He was expecting some crinkled old has-been, not a fairy tale prince with a sharp tongue and a cold gaze. “I’m exploring.”

“Exploring. _Really_? And I suppose it’s safe to assume that you’re recording your explorations for the Republic?” Hux points the blaster at Kylo’s head. It’s the way he says it that makes Kylo smile; It’s the sarcasm and the little hip pop, the raised eye brow.

“Yes, I’m _really_ just exploring,” Kylo says. He lets his hands fall a bit, but Hux only rolls his eyes. “Don’t know about the Republic, though. Didn’t you destroy them?”

“Oh, there’s only so much that blowing up capital planets can do.” Hux stifles a yawn, and only then does Kylo notice the dark bags under his eyes. How many days has it been since he had a good night’s sleep? “Now, tell me why you’re here, or I’m going to shoot you.”

“I’m telling the truth, your worship,” Kylo lied. “I’m just taking a look around, but I _am_ sorry I came by so late.”

Hux scoffs. “You say that as if you’re visiting.”

“Aren’t I?” Kylo takes a step forward, but Hux doesn’t react.

“No. You’re intruding.” He stifles another yawn.

“Hm, I guess I should let you get back to sleep then.” Kylo starts to back away, but the blaster is suddenly hot against his skin. He calls on the Force, pushing the blaster left as he ducks right. The bolt barely misses his head, but it manages to sear off a few strands of hair as it passes.

“Whoa!”

“Damnit!” Hux is quick, despite his obvious fatigue. Before Kylo can move further away, he has the blaster pressed against his temple. “You’re not going anywhere.”

With his head ducked awkwardly, Kylo has a great view of Hux’s chest. His robe has slipped again revealing more freckled skin and a perky pink nipple. Kylo grins, excited despite the danger. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

Hux’s eyes narrow. “Stand up.”

Kylo follows the order, but takes another step forward. Hux doesn’t move back, and then they’re closer, only a handful of space between them. “’Cause if it’s a promise, then you gotta keep it.”

His voice is quiet, tempting, seductive, but Hux seems unswayed. He stares back at Kylo defiantly, a frown still etched in his eyebrows. Kylo might have thought he was a lost case if it wasn’t for the way his eyes flicker down to his lips, the way his pupils dilate. “It’s not a promise.”

“You sure?” Kylo leans in, letting their faces hover just inches apart. “It sure sounds like a promise.”

“Well, it’s not.” Hux’s tongue darts out to lick his lips. If Kylo didn’t know any better, he’d think Hux was leaning closer to him.

Then, Hux really is leaning in and Kylo has to stop himself from leaning in too. Oh, but Hux looks divine; eyes half-closed, lips slightly parted, still, expectant. The moonlight makes him glow like an angel, and Kylo is more than tempted. It really is a shame that Kylo has to leave him like that.

“That’s too bad.” And Kylo means it.

He knocks the blaster out of Hux’s hand, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Hux’s other fist swinging at his face. Kylo barely has time to lean back, out of range of the punch, and he uses the Force to push Hux to the ground in the process. Then, he turns, runs back towards the balcony, vaulting himself over it, but he doesn’t let go. He hangs on to the edge of the railing, feet braced against the edge of the platform. He looks back at Hux once last time.

Hux looks angry, but to Kylo’s surprise, he also looks dazed, confused, disappointed. Kylo almost climbs back onto the balcony, almost, but then there are blaster bolts flying for his head. He lets go of the railing, allowing himself to drop below the balcony and grab onto a small ledge just under it. The length of the balcony hides him from view, but he’s close enough to hear Hux’s footsteps running forward.

He stops at the edge of the balcony. Kylo hears a sigh, but he doesn’t hear Hux walk away, not for a few minutes. He almost leaves, but Hux’s voice stops him.

“It’s always ‘too bad.’” Then, he walks away.

Kylo stays a few seconds longer, but Hux doesn’t return. When he’s sure it’s safe, he locks his helmet in place and jumps down, continuing his decent.

“Don’t worry your majesty,” Kylo says, looking back up at the balcony. “I’ll be back in a few cycles.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Kylo arrives back at camp, the others are stressed and worried.

“Kylo!” Tauria and Bivios both rush forward and sandwich him in a hug. Kylo laughs as he takes off his helmet and wraps his arms around them too.

“Took you long enough,” Ersoona says. Her words are casual but her face is relieved.

“Aw, you guys were worried about me,” Kylo says. He smiles and it breaks some of the tension, even though Taruia is definitely wiping tears from her eyes.

“I was not worried,” Mallo says from their seat by the fire. “You are the strongest of all of us. Worrying would’ve been illogical.”

Kylo rests a hand on their shoulder and squeezes. He can feel their stress melt away at his touch. “Well, thanks for not worrying Mallo. I can always count on you to be strong.”

From across the campfire, Noburso nods at him. Just in front of him, Jokun is fast asleep.

“How is he?” Kylo asks.

“He’s gonna have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, but he’ll be okay.” Ersoona walked up beside him as everyone else began to gather around the fire. “The question is, how are _you_? What happened? We thought you were right behind us.”

Kylo sighs. “I just…I got…caught.” He looked away from her, knowing exactly what she’d say.

“You what?!” She screams. “How could you get caught?! This was a routine scouting mission. Kylo—“

“I know, I know!” He hates it when she yells at him. “Look, I took care of it, okay? It was…it was just a guard. I wiped his mind. He doesn’t remember anything.”

“You could’ve been hurt!”

“But I wasn’t.”

“That guard could’ve killed you.”

“But he didn’t!”

“Are you sure it was a guard?” Mallo asked suddenly.

Kylo whipped his head around to look at them. No one in his team but himself could use the Force, but Mallo was more sensitive than the others. They almost always knew when someone was lying.

“I…yes. I’m sure it was a guard.” It’s just that Kylo hadn’t realized he’d been lying until Mallo spoke up. But, why would he lie about Hux? Why didn’t he just tell them? “Look, can we just make our report? We’ve had a long day, and the sooner we get this check-in over with, the better.”

“Fine,” Ersoona relents, though she isn’t happy about it.

She and Kylo take their places around the camp fire and then Kylo makes the all on his comm. Above the fire, a figure flickers into existence. The distance makes the image a bit fuzzy and mostly blue, just like the holo calls from centuries ago, but they can all still make out their client.

“General Organa,” Kylo starts. “This is Jae-Ky, leader of the Gomun Jae, checking in with the status of your purchase.”

“It’s good to hear from you Jae-Ky.” Her voice is detached, formal. “I assume tonight was a success?”

“Yes.” Kylo looks to Mallo and they begin to fiddle with a data pad. “Mallo is sending our intelligence to you now, and General, you’re not going to believe this.”

“Try me.”

“It’s not just a base, it’s the Emperor’s palace.” Leia looks astonished, and Kylo continues. “We did a general sweep of the place, but given how massive it is, it’ll take much longer to acquire everything else you requested.”

“How much longer?”

“About three standard months.”

She frowns. “Kylo I don’t have that long.”

“And I don’t have enough men to scout out an entire palace in two weeks. Those weapon and defense systems are going to take time to find, especially if they catch on to us and start increasing security. That’s not to mention everything that we have to do outside of the damn thing, like finding entry points and establishing good locations for drop sites,” Kylo fired back.

“Alright, aright. But I want it done in two months.”

“Three.” Kylo glared at her and Leia glared right back. “I told you three and I meant three. Our technician is injured which sets us back. If we could do two, I would’ve told you two.”

Leia pursed her lips, unhappy with the answer. Unsurprising; she was always unhappy with Kylo’s answers. “Fine. Three months. What else?”

Kylo sighed, trying to calm himself a bit. “That’s all. We’ll call again when we have more.”

“Very well, I’ll leave you to it then.” And then the holo-projection fizzled away.

Wordlessly, the Gomun Jae broke off, retiring to their tents. Kylo was left alone by the fire. Years ago, Ersoona might’ve stayed with him, but not anymore. With heavy eyes, Kylo stared into the fire. He didn’t say a word about Hux to anyone. Why didn’t he say anything?

It’s just been a long day, he decides. What would he have told everyone anyway? ‘I ran into the emperor and by the way, the guy wears a pink bathrobe and is really hot!’ No, he’ll wait until there’s something more concrete to tell them.

Sighing, he retreats to his own tent, thinking, planning what to do next. Their plans would have to change. Jokun would probably be unable to physically go to the palace for the next week or so, longer-term shelter would have to be established, and they’d have to be more careful now that Hux has seen him. But, as he drifts off to sleep, Kylo dreams about red hair, green eyes, and how things would’ve been if they’d met anywhere else.

 

And oh, how lovely that dream was.

 

 


	2. Back for More

 

As he walks, there is no sound except for his boots against the plasteel floors and low hum of idle engines. His gaze flickers over the machinery, all perfectly installed and polished until it glowed. There’s not a loose bolt or scratch mark in sight.

“How have the tests been?” Hux already knows the answer to the question. The reports were on his desk three weeks ago, one week ago, that morning.

“All simulation tests have been completed successfully. The ship received full marks in defensive and offensive capabilities, as well as crew sustainability.” The man in charge of the operation summarizes his earlier report. “Over the next two months, we will conduct final tests and begin stocking the cargo bays. We will be ready for launch on schedule.”

“Very good, captain.” Hux is pleased. “You are dismissed.”

Out of habit, he turns on his heel to exit causing his cape to flare behind him. His personal guard and General Phasma fall into line behind him, and they march down the corridors. Passing troops and officers pause to salute their emperor while their families stop to bow. Their boots walk from plasteel to tile as they exit the engineering level and enter the main space of the palace.

“How is your project coming, General?” Hux asks.

“We will be ready. No one is getting in or out of here without me knowing it.” She dares to walk beside him, but he allows her. Only she has ever been allowed.

A moment of doubt.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

A moment of silence.

“However—” she begins. “—I still think it would be best if we—“

Hux stops suddenly, turning to glare at her. “Do not bring Kreia Ren into this,” He says, voice too calm.

“She’s an asset,” Phasma says.

“She’s a monster,” Hux corrects. “And I will not send her on a pointless man-hunt when she and the Knights need to focus on maintaining the Force barrier. We can handle this.”

He continues down the hall, not waiting for Phasma or her troops to catch up. “Besides, if she gets to him before I do, then what’s the point?” He says, more to himself than to Phasma. He walks a little faster then, frowning to himself. They walk in silence until they reach his personal quarters, only the soft _clack_ of their boots echoing through the halls.

Hux goes straight to his balcony and leans over the edge. He looks out on the city and the beach beyond it. It’s always been one of his favorite sights. It’s a shame he’ll only have a few more months to appreciate it, but an itch is beginning to settle under his skin, one that can’t wait to get back into space, to the stars. There is no command to turn on the lights. It would ruin the view.

He hears his door close, but knows he is not alone. It’s a comfort. He almost doesn’t want to be.

“There are guards posted at every entrance,” Phasma says, helmet off. “They’re patrolling the hallways, the skies, the stars. No one’s getting past us, Armitage.”

He sighs, wipes a hand over his face. He doubts.

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me.”

He is silent. There’s no reason to doubt her. She’s his closest friend, and yet Hux can’t help but fear the coming night.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” Phasma says.

“I know. That’s not what I’m worried about.” Hux looks up, up the castle walls and towers from where Kylo had so suddenly appeared. “Anyhow, he wouldn’t hurt me.”

“And how do you know that?” There’s the faintest smile in her voice, Hux can tell.

“Because he hasn’t tried to,” Hux says.

“Not yet.”

Hux scoffs. “The fool dived two-hundred meters off the roof of my palace and landed on my balcony without a scratch, but didn’t take the opportunity to even make an attempt at assassination. He’s not going to kill me.”

“As you say, your majesty.” The smile still hadn’t left her voice.

“What?” Hux demands, voice flat. He turns to face her, walking back into his room.

“What?” She’s sitting on his favorite ice-blue couch, pretending not to know what he’s talking about. He was right. There’s a faint smile on her face.

“Gwen.”

“You don’t even know if he’ll show up tonight,” She says.

“He will. He has to.”

“How do you know? You’re the only one who’s seen him,” she says. “There have been no security breaches, no holo records, no sightings of this man except for you. You’re the only one who’s seen him.”

“And?” He glares at her, his arms crossed, his fingers digging into the fabric of his coat.

“And the first and last time you saw him was a week ago. You’re either paranoid beyond reason or you’re…hopeful.”

“ _Hopeful_?”

“Eager,” Phasma corrected, smile spreading. “You just seem very eager to see him again.”

“I’m _eager_ to put this matter to rest, General,” Hux says. “We launch in two months. I will not risk the fate of this project by ignoring a possible threat. Forgive me if I’m a bit _hopeful_ that the matter will be solved tonight.”

Phasma rolls her eyes. “So, that’s why we’re just going to hope that he shows up?”

“I’m not crazy, Gwen. He will show up. I know it.”

 “Why? Because you know him?”

Hux hesitates. He wants to say ‘yes’ but he’s not sure why. “Go do your job,” he says instead. He goes back to the balcony, doing his best to ignore Phasma.

He can feel her gaze on the back of his head. She wants to say more, but she won’t. She doesn’t need to. “Just be careful, Hux,” She says. “Have a good night, your majesty.”

The door opens, closes, and then Hux is alone in his room. Idly, he wonders if he’s making the right decision. Phasma isn’t wrong. Things would be easier if he just asked Kreia to take care of it, but he can’t risk drawing her focus away from the Force barrier. She needs to focus on that for their plans to succeed. Hux can take care of Kylo.

Retreating towards his closet, Hux shrugs out of his clothes, placing them in a laundry shoot for the cleaning droids to deal with later. He picks a black bathrobe for the night, the one with pleats, and takes a set of pajamas with him to the bathroom.

He hesitates as he reaches for the controls to the tub, but presses them anyway. Maybe he is being a little paranoid about Kylo showing up, but he won’t let that get in the way of his routine.

He stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror as the tub fills. The week hadn’t treated him well. Sleep never came easily to him in the first place, but now he had an intruder to keep him up at night, too. More than one night had been spent staring at the security holo feeds.

Hux glances back towards his bedroom, at his desk where he can access the feeds. He shouldn’t…but it would still take some time for the tub to fill.

He doesn’t run to his desk, no, he walks very calmly. The feed flickers to life after a few moments, making his face glow blue in the darkness of his room. His eyes scan holo after holo as they switch between every camera in the palace. There are no abnormalities, no intruders, yet, but Hux knows he’ll come.

At some point, a soft beep sounds from the bathroom, indicating that the tub has been filled. Hux tells himself the water will be too hot and he should wait a few minutes for it to cool a bit. It almost pays off. Something flickers across the holo of camera 437 on the fifteenth floor, and Hux nearly slams the alert button on the underside of his desk. Then the mouse droid runs across the camera again, and Hux has to force himself to relax.

Combing a hand through his hair, he lets his head fall to the desk with a soft _thunk_. His nerves are crawling under his skin like ants, and his heart races with adrenaline. He’s actually going to go crazy if he starts jumping at every little thing. Thinking about the bath again, Hux forces himself to get up and take a soak.

He takes one last glance at the holos as he stands, pausing before he can turn towards the bathroom. The holos switch to the camera he had installed in his room a few nights ago, but something looks off. In the holo he was asleep in bed, but that was impossible. He’s standing right there at the desk.

Realization dawns on him and he spins around, reaching for the blaster there on the desk, but when he turns, he finds himself alone in the room. Hux glances around himself, backing up against a wall so that he has one less side to worry about covering, but as much as he looks, he doesn’t see a soul aside from himself.

He dares to take a look at the holos again, but finds that there’s nothing wrong with them. He sees himself, holding a blaster, looking at security holos at his desk. There’s no one in the room, but him.

He blinks.

Suddenly, in the holos, there’s a figure standing behind him, looking right over his shoulder.

“Wow, is that really what I look like from the back?” A voice says next to his ear. Hux whirls around again, and this time Kylo is standing there behind him. “Good evening, your worship,” He says with a smile.

Hux sucks in a breath. He’s right. He’s not crazy. Kylo is real and he showed up. Like a true assassin, he’s clad in black armor with weapons and gear strapped all over his person. The only thing that seems different is his face. Hux doesn’t remember Kylo looking so handsome. Those dark eyes, that shining black hair; Hux thought he dreamed it in his exhausted daze, but there he stood, with his broad-shoulders, an inch or two above Hux.

Nevertheless, his first instinct is to raise his blaster, but his hand comes up empty and his desk is equally void of weapons. His second instinct is to reach under his desk and press the security alert button before Kylo can stop him. The motion is a bit obvious, but it’ll do the job. Only, Kylo didn’t try to stop him, nor did he seem particularly worried about impending threats. The small smile on Kylo’s face tells Hux everything he needs to know.

“You disconnected it, didn’t you?” Hux says through his teeth.

“I couldn’t have anyone walking in on us, now could I?” He says. He holds up Hux’s blaster, manifesting it from somewhere, and throws it across the room out of Hux’s reach. “Sorry.”

The blaster lands a little too neatly in the armchair on the far wall, but Hux is more concerned with how Kylo managed to get past all of the security he had set up. It should’ve been impossible for him to get in.

“You made the climb hard tonight,” Kylo says, as if reading Hux’s mind. “Cameras inside and outside the castle, facing every which-way – looping video on seven hundred cameras was _not_ easy – and then you set up randomized patrols for your guards _and_ aerial scouts? Damn, that was quite the adrenaline rush.”

Hux doesn’t know what to say. He’s angry, furious, livid, but also impressed that Kylo managed to get past all of his preparations without a scratch on him.

“Uh…I like your bathrobe tonight.” Kylo adjusts his hair, almost nervously. He tucks it behind those ridiculously large ears of his. He looks almost innocent. “The pleats are a nice touch.”

Hux punches him. Or, he tries to.

Kylo blocks Hux’s right hook with his right hand. It comes up a moment too early, like he was expecting it. That is, arguably, more frustrating to Hux than anything else about the situation: that he can’t even get a punch in. So, he swings his left foot up towards Kylo’s head to kick him. Kylo catches that, too. Hux actually growls.

He’s about to throw another punch with his left hand, knowing that there was no way Kylo could block that, too, with both of his hands occupied, but Kylo isn’t paying attention to him…well, not his face.

“Ha…so, the carpet matches the drapes,” Kylo says, raising an eyebrow. His ears are pink.

When their eyes finally meet, Hux realizes, belatedly, that he’s still dressed for his bath. That is to say, he’s completely nude under his bathrobe which rode up when he attempted that kick.

Hux throws his left hook and hits Kylo square in the face. Kylo stumbles backward, releasing Hux. There’s no crack to indicate breaking bones, but Kylo definitely groans in pain as he holds his face. Hux takes the opportunity to re-tie his robe a little tighter.

Before Kylo can right himself, Hux pulls him forward by his hair then knees him in the stomach. As soon as Kylo is on the ground, Hux runs for the door. The controls refuse to open the door, or even recognize his security codes, so Hux starts banging on the door. The guards are just on the other side; they will hear him.

But no one responds. As much as he pounds on the door, as hard as he slams his fits, no one answers. Don’t they hear him? Can’t they hear their emperor shouting for their assistance? Why aren’t they trying to pry the doors open?

Hux is ready to try prying the doors open himself when Kylo leans back against the door. He holds his stomach, clearly still a bit pained, but otherwise unbothered by Hux’s attempted escape.

Hux’s hand still against the door. He stares at it, furious. “They can’t hear me.”

“Nope,” Kylo answers.

“You did something.”

“Yep.”

“What did you do?” Hux glares at him.

“Can’t tell you that one,” Kylo grins. “Trade secret.” He winks, the scoundrel, and flashes Hux some one-in-a-million smile that probably makes men and women throw themselves at his feet.

Hux rolls his eyes. He tries to punch Kylo again, and Kylo blocks it, again. This time, Kylo pushes his arm back and forces Hux against the door. He tries a punch with his other arm, but that gets blocked too. Hux goes for another kick, but his legs won’t move forward. His body won’t listen to him at all, he finds, as he’s crowded against the door, arms trapped on either side of his head, and brought face to face with Kylo.

“You know you’re a lot stronger than you look,” Kylo says causally. _Casually_ , like they’re at a bar in the outer rim.

Hux tries to struggle in his grip, but Kylo is too strong. He should’ve known from the beginning that he’d be no match for those broad shoulders. So, he tries to lean away, but there’s nowhere to go. He can only burn holes into Kylo’s head with his glare and hope the right message gets across.

“Let me go,” Hux demands.

“You know, you’re not really in a position to be making demands.”

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Are you gonna try to hit me again?”

“Let me go and you’ll find out.” He keeps his eyes fixed to Kylo’s, but Kylo’s gaze keeps wandering down towards his lips, across his cheeks. Kylo is…admiring him.

Kylo sighs. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you. Can’t we just…talk?”

 “You want to _talk_?” Hux stares at him. Kylo is awfully close to him, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to move any time soon. What could he possibly wish to talk about that requires him to stand so close?

“Yeah.”

“Why? Do you think I’m going to tell you all of the secrets of my empire now that you have me pinned to this door? Do you think I’m going to spill my darkest secrets in exchange for freedom?”

“What?” Kylo asks. He cocks an eyebrow and his head tilts to the side. With those big ears of his, Hux can’t help but think he looks a bit like a puppy. A confused, overgrown puppy. His eyes dart down to Hux’s lips again. “No I – no. I just wanna talk. About stuff.”

Hux frowns. The way Kylo looks at him gives him an uneasy feeling. He doesn’t very much look like he wants to just talk.

“Stop staring at me like that, you oaf,” Hux says. He tries to lean further back against the door, but their faces remain inches apart.

“Like what?” Kylo looks up at his eyes, a smile growing on his face.

“Like…like you want to _ravish_ me,” Hux turns his head away.

Kylo laughs. “And what if I do want to ravish you?” His eyes darken and a chill runs down Hux’s spine. He doesn’t look so much like a puppy then. No, he’s more like a predator, a beast. Something about the way he says it sound so dangerous, despite the innocence of the question.

The sudden change is concerning. It reminds Hux of Kreia Ren and how much of a monster she is, how she rarely hesitates to kill. There’s always a chill when she’s around, like something is missing from the room. Kylo looks just as eager to strike, just as dangerous. The difference is that there’s no chill. There is no void trying to suck everything in. Instead, Hux feels heat, warmth. Overwhelming warmth.

It’s exciting.

“Then you’ll be sorely disappointed,” Hux says. It’s been a moment too long. He tries his best to look uninterested, unbothered. It doesn’t work. He knows it doesn’t. They were staring at each other.

“You couldn’t make an exception?”

“No,” Hux says firmly, to Kylo and himself. He feels his head buzzing with anticipation. “You’re distracting me on purpose. What are you, some sort of jedi? Are you using a mind trick on me while you extract all of the information you need?”

Kylo huffs. “No mind-tricks. Just my natural, rugged charm.”

“But you don’t deny that you’re distracting me.” He smells like the forest, like the trees beyond the palace, like smoke from a campfire, like engine grease.

“I’m not sure I’m the one doing the distracting.” Kylo’s breath is like a whisper on his lips.

“Stop stalling.”

“As you wish, your majes-“

A comm rings loudly, echoing through the room. Hux jerks in surprise, eyes flying open. He’s not sure when they closed. Kylo sighs, hanging his head in defeat. He peels himself away from Hux reluctantly to answer the device beeping on his belt.

As soon as Kylo turns his back, Hux clutches his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. Without Kylo up against him, the room suddenly feels cold, empty. The buzzing in his head slowly fades as he realizes what he was about to do, but his lips tingle and Hux can’t bring himself to hate it.

 “What?” Kylo says into the comm a bit irritably.

_“Where are you? What happened? Everyone is at the rendezvous but you. It’s been twenty minutes since we were supposed to meet!”_ A woman’s voice crackles through the comm.

“Shit,” Kylo mutters to himself, too quietly for the comm to pick up. “I’m alright. I just…I got held up dodging the guards. Their patrol pattern was missing a pattern. I’ll be there soon.”

Hux watches him, knows how easy it would be to knock him out while he’s distracted with whoever is on the other end of the line, but his limbs won’t move. It’s not like before, when Kylo had him pinned to the door and invisible chains held him there against his will. This time, he hesitates.

_“Guards. Really? It took you twenty minutes to maneuver around a few guards? You?”_ The woman sounded angry, disbelieving.

“Yes, really. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I took care of it.”

_“I’m sure you did.”_

“Ersoona – look, I’ll meet you back at camp.” Kylo runs a hand through his hair, eyebrows drawing together. “I’m not…I can’t talk here.”

_“And where is_ here _?”_

Kylo hesitates. He looks back at Hux, and they lock eyes. They stare at each other, and Hux watches his gaze soften, watches his shoulders droop. Hux watches him relax and knows that he is the cause.

“A guard tower,” Kylo says, lies, never looking away from Hux. “The guards will be back soon here too. I have to go.”

_“Ky-“_ But Kylo cuts off the connection before she can really begin to speak.

They stand in silence for a while, watching each other from opposite sides of the room. Neither knows what to say. Finally, Kylo snatches his helmet from a chair and makes for the balcony without a word.

“Wait,” Hux calls, though he doesn’t know why. Kylo pauses by the window, waiting for Hux to speak without looking back. The gears turn in Hux’s head, looking for something to say, anything. “…Why?”

“Why what?”

Hux chews on his lip. Why what? He doesn’t know what. “Why…Why did you tell her you were at a guard tower?” But as the words leave his mouth, it dawns on him. “Why not just say that you’ve captured the emperor?”

Kylo hesitates. “Well, I didn’t exactly capture you, now did I?”

Hux knows the words that Kylo won’t say, but he can’t tell if that makes the situation any better. He knows it makes his heart race. He knows it makes his head buzz. “You didn’t tell anyone about me, did you? No one knows you’ve seen me; that you _came back_ to see me…Why?”

A small smile makes its way onto Kylo’s face, a smile Hux wouldn’t have seen if not for the moonlight. “Because—“ he says. “—you’re cute, and I don’t like sharing.”

Hux glares at him. “Be serious.”

“I am.”

Kylo puts on his helmet and walks out to the balcony. Hux runs out after him, determined not to let him go before he has a proper answer, but by the time he makes it out there, Kylo is standing on the edge, helmet on, ready to take off.

“Kylo,” Hux calls.

“Get some sleep, your majesty. I’ll be back in seven cycles, so you don’t have to worry about your security until then.” Then, he falls forward off the ledge. Hux runs to the edge, leaning over, looking for any sign of him, but like a ghost Kylo is gone.

It’s only then that he realizes he could’ve run to the balcony and started shouting to get the attention of the guards. With a frustrated sigh, Hux lets his shoulders droop. How did he let himself get so distracted? He should’ve known better than to think Kylo was just going to let himself be captured.

At least it wasn’t a complete loss. There was valuable information Hux got out of their “talk.” He knows that Kylo has a team, that they’re highly skilled, and that all of them are good enough to have gotten past his security. He also knows that his heart hasn’t raced that hard in years and that he feels cold and alone in his room.

He grips the balcony railing and tries to clear his head, but when he closes his eyes, all he sees is Kylo. Hux sees his moles like stars on his skin, his eyes that can’t hide a thing, his lips that were too close but also not close enough to Hux’s.

“Seven cycles,” Hux says into the night. “I’m holding you to that.”

He walks back into his bedroom and shuts the balcony door. His bath has become cold by now, but bathing is the least of his worries. Laying out on his bed, Hux thinks, worries about what he’s feeing. Some part of him wishes Phasma had been right, that Kylo hadn’t showed up, because then he could’ve convinced himself that it was all a dream. Glancing up at the camera in the corner of his room, Hux watches it beep, wondering if Kylo was still watching him or if he had really left for the night.

When it becomes too much to think about, he turns over and tries to sleep. He doesn’t expect it to come quickly, sleep hasn’t come easily for quite a while now, but his eyes feel heavy and his body sinks into the mattress as he arranges the blankets around himself.

Hux is asleep before he has time to marvel at his exhaustion. He dreams about Kylo and what might’ve happened if they had really kissed. It’s the first good night he’s had in years.


	3. Irresistable

 

 

In through his nose, out through his mouth.

Kylo breathes slowly as he concentrates on the castle, the life forms within it, the shape and structure of the halls. He can’t see very far, but he can see far enough. The halls beyond the door are clear enough that he will know if a guard comes by. He can’t pin point his team exactly, but he can feel them. He knows that Noburso is struggling to keep still a few floors above him, he knows Ersoona and Bivios are on opposite ends of the palace, trying to find a way out, and he knows that Mallo would be fine in the vents for another few hours if need be.

“Damn it! I’m locked out!” He also knows that Tauria isn’t nearly as good at hacking into systems as Jokun is, but they didn’t have many other options.

Checking the halls one more time, Kylo comes out of his meditative state to check on Tauria’s progress. She’d gotten past the initial security firewalls, but locating and disabling specific security measures is far above her pay grade.

_“If you’re locked out, then we’re dead!”_ Noburso says over the comm, very out of breath. _“I’m not sure I’ll last much longer unless you can get these motion sensors down.”_

“I’m trying!” Tauria yells at him. “Next time, why don’t _you_ try bypassing a foreign security system without Jokun.”

_“You two need to cooperate,”_ Ersoona hisses. _“If you can’t take the motion sensors offline, then try to find another way out of here. Bivios and I can’t find a way out of here. The aerial patrols are too frequent, and every guard that’s not in the castle is patrolling every square inch of the ground.”_

Kylo wipes a hand over his face. Hux certainly isn’t making it easy tonight. “Mallo, do you have anything?”

_“I have retrieved the information we need, however there is no way out of the castle through the vents,”_ He pauses for a moment. _“Although, it is possible to hide out in the castle overnight and escape during the day, but we would risk detection as we do not know how busy it is during the day.”_

“No, no, you’re right. It’s too risky,” Kylo looks at another screen at the schematics of the palace. They need to get those motion sensors down. That alone would allow them enough movement to get out of the palace undetected, but they couldn’t do it from here anymore.

“Tauria, think you can handle it here by yourself?” Kylo asks, locking his helmet in place.

“The guards are so busy looking for us, I doubt anyone will think to look in their own security hubs. But if anyone does get in, I can take care of them,” She says with a cheeky smile.

“Good. Then I’ll be back in an hour.”

_“Kylo, what are you doing now?”_ Ersoona asks. He can hear her exasperation.

“If we can’t disable the motion sensors from here, then I’ll just take out their power source. You said they were on their own grid, right?” He asks, looking back at Tauria.

“Yeah, boss. I couldn’t find out where it was though.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got that covered.”

_“Ooh, Force powers,”_ Noburso says.

_“Kylo, don’t do this. It’s too risky-“_

“Sorry what was that?” He says, cutting Ersoona off. “Didn’t hear you. I’m going radio silent until I get back. Don’t want to draw any attention to myself.”

He cuts off the comm channel as he steps out of the room and starts down the hall. He almost feels guilty lying to his team like that. Well…it wasn’t lying, per say. He really is going to disable the motion sensors, he’s just not going to the physical power source.

The patrols of guards start getting more and more frequent as Kylo nears his destination. They’re around every corner, making it hard for him to go more than a few feet before he has to hide. A guard nearly sees him as he rounds the corner, but the unlocked windows provide him with an escape route.

Kylo curses his luck. Dealing with the guards is far easier than dealing with motion sensors. He’s only three floors up from his destination and a few windows over, but that doesn’t make his job any easier. He looks up at the palace walls. The motion sensors are hidden fairly well, but he can feel the spikes of energy when they activate and deactivate. There’s no pattern to it. Each one activates and deactivates randomly, making it impossible for Kylo to predict when to move and when to stay. His only clue is the blinking red light on each of the devices that becomes solid moments before the sensors activate.

He jumps on top of the window sill, balancing precariously on the plasteel with only his boots and gloves to provide grip. He readies himself to backflip down to a decorative beam below him, and then he feels a spike of energy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a blinking red light pause. In panic, he grips the plasteel walls harder than he should, making dents in it with the force. The very next moment, he feels a wave of energy pass over him. He is afraid to breathe, let alone move.

Kylo waits, one minute, two minutes, five minutes. If not for the Force he might’ve suffocated himself or moved and triggered the motion sensor, but he doesn’t and finally, _finally,_ it clicks off.

He doesn’t waste time trying to catch his breath, rather he jumps as soon as he’s able, landing not-so-silently on the beam. Kylo winces, bracing himself for the sound of an alarm, but it doesn’t come and he continues his descent before he can second guess himself.

He jumps right, to another beam. He drops down, to a perch on the wall where it juts out for a window. He pauses moments before the sensors activate, for seconds, minutes at a time. Finally, he can see Hux’s balcony. It’s a massive thing, compared to the other decorations around the outside of the castle. There’s only one beam between him and his destination. Kylo dives for it, intending to flip off the beam and land on the balcony like a circus performer. The sensor on the beam activates right before he lands.

He’s too close to it to change trajectory, but he can’t just land on the thing. Three options fly through his head all at the same time:

  1. Land on the beam and activate the alarm. Alert the team that they need to evacuate and hope that everyone can get out. High risk of getting caught and blowing their cover. Most likely scenario. Also, the least favorable. Probability of completing the mission: Low. Probability of seeing Hux again: Very Low.
  2. Use his jetpack and get out of there. His location would be compromised, but the rest of the team should be safe. Worst case scenario: He gets shot out of the sky. Probability of completing the mission: Moderate. Probability of seeing Hux again: Hard Maybe.
  3. Use the Force. To do...something…Probability of completing the mission: ??? Probability of seeing Hux again: ?????



He uses the Force. For once, he listens to his Uncle’s teachings and just trusts it. His body suddenly stops falling. He freezes in mid-air, face hovering inches from his hands, hands hovering inches from the beam. It takes all of the concentration that he has, but Kylo trusts in the Force and levitates himself above the beam.

It’s something he’s never done before and the sensation is jarring. He feels weightless, but also as though he weighs a ton. Like floating in water, he feels everything and nothing. He can feel the energy of the sensor beneath his hand; not just the energy but the weight of the energy and the weight of the air around him. He feels the weight of the sensor disappear as it shuts off, and slowly he lowers himself on to the beam.

The Force-haze is broken as soon as he’s on his feet, and then Kylo can’t remember how he did it. He’s left a bit dizzy and disoriented, but still manages a clean jump down to Hux’s balcony.

Interestingly, the doors to his room are closed, and the curtains are drawn. Kylo reaches for the door handle but thinks better of it and knocks first. He waits. No response. He knocks again. When Hux neglects to respond after a second attempt, Kylo opens the doors slowly, assuming he’s asleep.

A blaster bolt flies through the air, aimed at his face, as soon as the doors crack open.

Kylo bends backward and the bolt flies past him, close enough that he could see the way the energy twisted and crackled. As he comes back up, he hears the deep click of a sniper rifle reloading and when he stands he sees a flash of bright red hair followed by the flash of a bright red blaster bolt.

He bends backward again, this time flipping to get back on his feet after the bolt passes him. But, the bolts keep coming. They fly past him as he ducks, moves back, jumps back, until he backflips off the balcony entirely. He grabs onto the edge of the balcony as he drops down, but before he can pull himself back up, Hux appears above him, one foot on the balcony railing, both hands pointing a sniper at Kylo’s face.

“Good evening your majesty.”

“Shut up.” Hux readjusts the weapon. The barrel hovers inches from Kylo’s face.

“The motion detectors were a nice touch. I almost got caught a few times. It was quite the challenge.” Kylo tries to readjust his grip on the ledge, but Hux’s grip on the trigger tightens as he does.

“Apparently not enough of one,” Hux says, unamused.

“Ha, apparently.”

They stare at each other in silence for a few moments. His arms are growing tired, but Kylo hesitant to move in case Hux decides to shoot him. He looks up past the barrel of the gun to take Hux in. The gun itself is a beautiful matte black. It’s a model Kylo hasn’t seen before, not even on the black market. It must be high end, pricey, fresh from the market.

Hux himself looks every bit like a soldier who pulls the trigger instead of the emperor who orders the kill. He’s still only wearing a black tank and shorts, but it’s more than the frilly bathrobes Kylo had only seen the first few times they met. Even if he’s pointing a gun to Kylo’s head, Hux evidently doesn’t consider him enough of a threat to wear shoes.

“So, uh…you gonna let me up?” Kylo asks.

“No.”

“What if I ask nicely? Please, Hux, help me up?” Kylo bats his eyelashes.

“… _No_.”

Kylo rolls his eyes. Fine, they’ll do this the hard way. He makes an obvious glance towards Hux’s bedroom door, and Hux takes the bait. As soon as Hux’s eyes are off him, Kylo opens the door with the Force. Hux turns and fires at it, giving Kylo enough time to jump onto the balcony.

He miscalculates.

He jumps too early, and as soon as his feet touch down, Hux takes a second shot and it hits Kylo’s back. It burns. His armor isn’t strong, not this set anyway. It’s made for agility and evading enemies, not taking direct hits at point blank range, so it the shot burns.

Kylo falls to his hands and knees as he screams in agony. The bolt eats its way through his armor and then his flesh. Tears well in his eyes as he calls on the Force, making it stop the burn. He wants nothing more than to collapse writhe in pain, but he can sense the guards outside of Hux’s room rushing in to investigate. With the strength he has left, he calls on the Force to whisk him into the shadows, to hide him from prying eyes. Then he hears the guards.

“Sir! Is everything alright? We heard a shout,” one of them says.

“I…He just suddenly…” From his hiding place in the shadows, Kylo can see Hux’s face. His eyes search the room, looking for Kylo, but not finding him. He looks upset, distraught even, but his hesitation only lasts a moment. Then, his face is stone cold and unforgiving. “Yes, there was an intruder. I shot him but he escaped through the window. Find him.”

The guards look skeptical, but they won’t question their emperor. They turn and leave, calling orders into a comm as they go. As soon as the door closes again, Hux’s shoulders sag. He wipes a hand over his face, looking conflicted.

The initial burn has subsided enough that Kylo comes out of the shadows, stepping back onto the balcony towards Hux. He peels his helmet off as he goes, needing fresh air. It ends up on Hux’s desk. Kylo looks up. Hux meets his eyes and raises his rifle.

“Hux-“ Kylo starts, but he can already feel the spike in energy from the weapon. Hux is going to shoot again.

Kylo rushes forward, forcing Hux back until his back hits the balcony railing. He takes a hold of Hux’s wrists, holding them above his head. Hux struggles in his grip, and, consequently, the sniper rifle falls out of Hux’s grip, tumbling down three-hundred meters to the ground.

They both turn to watch it fall, and even when it’s no longer visible from the balcony, neither of them move until they hear the clatter of the rifle hitting some poor sap over the head and the resulting aftermath of randomly discharged blaster-fire.

Hux glares at Kylo. He’s furious. “That rifle was custom made.”

“You can always buy another one-“

“By _me_.”

Kylo feels a bit guilty then. “Well…I mean, you _did_ shoot me with it.” Then he winces in pain, the sudden movement of restraining Hux finally catching up to him. He hunches over, trying to relieve the stress, but the movement stretches his back and makes it worse.

When the wave of pain passes, he looks up at Hux again. Something flickers across his face, something like concern, regret, but it passes before Kylo can put a name to it. Hux brushes past him back into the bedroom. Trying to follow him, Kylo turns too quickly making his wound burn again. Force-healing won’t get him very far. Kylo had focused more on lightsaber combat than using and connecting with the Force, so there is little he could do to soothe himself.

“Are you coming or not?” Hux calls.

Kylo lingers in the door way, observing. The lights are off, they’re always off, and Hux is lounging on that absurdly blue couch of his with a glass of something. There’s a second glass on the coffee table in front of him.

“I don’t drink,” Kylo says, looking from Hux to the drink.

“Who said it was for you?” Hux scoffs and downs the rest of his glass. “Maybe it’s for me.” But he makes no move to take it.

Actually, he doesn’t even look at Kylo or try to talk to him. Kylo steps forward until he’s on the other side of the table, but Hux doesn’t look up. Kylo waits, knowing Hux has a pistol stashed in the couch cushions, but Hux doesn’t reach for it. His gaze is dethatched, sad almost, and he makes no move to resist Kylo’s presence. It’s unnerving.

“So…How’s the empire?” Kylo asks, trying to ignore the way his back stings when he moves.

“Fine,” Hux says, staring into his empty glass.

“What do you do in this massive castle?” Kylo turns, looking around the room. He tries to move slowly. “Surely you do something other than sitting around giving orders, analyzing battle plans, negotiating treaties…”

“What else are you expecting?” Is Hux’s only reply.

“Well, you’ve got hobbies, don’t you? Everyone has hobbies. Personally, I like watching the skies. During the day, everything looks so different. Every planet I go to, the skies look different. Sometimes the sunsets are blood red, and sometimes they’re every shade of blue. Did you know that the sky is green in the morning on Taris, or that dusk on Felucia looks like dawn on Nal Hutta?”

Hux doesn’t respond, so Kylo keeps talking. “Night time is my favorite, though, because the stars always look the same. Black skies, white stars…but even then, there are so many different constellations, it’s hard to keep track of all of them.”

Kylo runs his fingers along a broken component sitting on Hux’s desk. “But I think you’re more high fashion.” He smiles, taking a proper look at the room. “You designed the castle yourself, didn’t you? I mean, I’m just guessing here, but there’s no way you let your troops pick that couch for you.”

His arm reaches out, gesturing to where Hux is sitting, but he immediately regrets it. His wound stretches and stings again, sending pain shooting through his spine. Kylo tries to breathe through it, trying to dull the pain with the Force, but there’s only so much he can do without revealing himself to Hux.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any bacta, would you?” Kylo asks. When he looks up, he catches Hux staring, that flicker of something disappearing just as Kylo looks up.

To his surprise, Kylo gets an answer. “Bathroom closet,” Hux says, exchanging his empty glass for the full one.

Kylo finds it easily, unsurprised at the size of the emergency kit. He has a choice of bacta gel or a patch and takes both, just in case. Applying it proves more difficult as every time he tries to get to his wound, he twists too far and sending more pain through his body.

Eventually, he gives up trying to get at it with his hands. Hux couldn’t see him from where he was standing. It’s risky, but he could try applying it with the Force; levitate the bacta patch into place.

“Go sit on the bed.” Suddenly Hux is next to him taking the gel tube and patch from his hands.

Kylo stares at him through the mirror, but doesn’t move. Hux runs the sink, scrubbing his hands, and after a moment he looks at Kylo. “Go. Sit.” He commands, and Kylo does.

He sits cross-legged on the bed and waits, not knowing why Hux has suddenly decided to treat the wound he just inflicted. Hux joins him shortly, sitting behind him and placing the whole med-kit beside them. He feels Hux’s fingers pulling at the fabric of his uniform, no doubt trying to get a better look at the wound. Kylo winces when he accidentally brushes the edges of it.

“Take off your clothes,” Hux tells him.

Kylo turns around, slowly as not to hurt himself, and stares at Hux again. He can’t help smiling. Hux ignores him, rummaging through the med kit, though when he does look up, he meets Kylo’s gaze with a flat look.

“What?” He asks. “Are you so dense that I have to repeat myself every time I tell you to do something?”

Kylo laughs and starts unfastening his armor. “I thought you’d at least treat me to dinner first.”

Hux glares at him and Kylo goes back to taking care of his armor, he just about gets all of the buttons and latches undone when Hux slaps his back. He doesn’t hit the wound, but it does make Kylo jump in surprise, which in turn stretches the wound too suddenly.

“Idiot…” Hux murmurs, but he doesn’t look upset, not really.

The problem comes when Kylo tries to take everything off. His armor plating is a bit hard to take off, but bending his head forward makes it easier. The under-armor is harder to take off. Even with the front unzipped, he can’t quite manage to get his arms out of the sleeves without stretching his back too far.

The bed shifts again, and then Hux is standing in front of him, reaching for the sleeves.

“You really want me out of these clothes, don’t you?” Kylo teases. Hux rolls his eyes but doesn’t respond. His eyes keep wandering across Kylo’s chest and abs and maybe a little lower than that, but Kylo decides not to push his luck with another comment.

Once the top half of Kylo’s under-armor is pooled around his waist, the bed dips again and Hux sits behind him. “I’m putting bacta gel on the wound then covering it with gauze. I’ll wrap bandages around your chest to keep them in place. If you were anyone else, I’d just use a patch, but I get the feeling it’ll come off once you start scaling my walls again.”

“How considerate,” Kylo says. It sounds sarcastic, but he’s honestly surprised.

A shiver runs down his spine when the cold gel makes contact with his skin, but it quickly warms. Hux works quickly, but when he begins to wrap the bandage around Kylo’s chest, it feels like he’s lingering. His arms brush against Kylo’s chest as he works, and his breath tickles the back of Kylo’s neck. It’s peaceful, and Kylo finds himself smiling, enjoying every accidental touch Hux makes.

Finally, Hux ties the bandage off, but his hands don’t leave. They rest on Kylo’s back on either side of the wound. They haven’t said a word to each other in a while, but it feels hard to break the silence. Hux’s hands slide a bit lower, but Kylo doesn’t push him away, not when his touch leaves trails of fire on Kylo’s skin.

“You’re an idiot,” Hux says suddenly. “You’re damn lucky that armor was thick enough to take the brunt of the blast or you’d be dead on my floor.”

The irony of Hux’s worry wasn’t lost on Kylo. “Then it’s lucky you’re here to patch me up. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if you were aiming for me?”

Then Hux’s touch disappears. The bed doesn’t shift, however. “Why do you keep coming back here?” Hux asks. “What do you get out of talking to me in secret?”

Kylo smiles. He runs his hand along the bandages around his chest. He can feel the bacta working, diminishing the pain. He pretends that it’s healing his heart too, stopping the guilt he feels for lying. “I told you: you’re cute. I like talking to you.”

“And I told you, be serious. Why are you really here?”

Kylo’s eyes flicker to his helmet on Hux’s desk. Three red lights blink. He needs more time. “I’ll tell you why I’m here if you tell me why you didn’t arrest me or finish me off when you had the chance.”

Then the bed does shift. Hux gets up, puts the med kit back in the bathroom, but he doesn’t answer. Kylo waits patiently on the bed, leaning back on his hands. When Hux emerges from the bathroom, he walks up to Kylo, glaring at him. They stare at each other, waiting answers that won’t come.

“You’re starting to like me, aren’t you? That’s why you patched me up instead of gunning me down,” Kylo says.

Hux doesn’t react. He doesn’t move. “Get out,” He says.

Kylo stands, approaches him. “I mean, you’ve already lost sleep thinking about me, and you stayed up for me tonight, waited for me to come by.”

“You’re delusional,” Hux tells him.

“And you haven’t moved.” Kylo stands nose-to-nose with him, close enough to kiss him. Desire rolls off Hux in waves, and Kylo knows Hux wouldn’t resist if he closed the distance between them. But he hesitates.

He’s not here for Hux, not really. He’s here for the information on Hux’s personal datapad. The only reason why he’s gotten so close is to distract Hux. Once the data files finish transferring to his helmet, Kylo will leave.

But Hux looks so beautiful in the moonlight. It would be a shame to leave him hanging.

“Scared?” Hux asks, and Kylo realizes he’s lingered a moment too long.

“Not at all.”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

Kylo smiles, teasing. He can feel Hux’s breath against his lips. “What do you mean? I thought you wanted me to leave.”

Hux’s eyes wander down to Kylo’s lips. “I do,” he says. “So, get out.” But, he doesn’t step aside to let Kylo go.

“As you wish, your majesty.” Kylo leans closer until their lips brush, but it’s Hux who surges forward to meet him. After that, it’s easy for Kylo to get lost.

Hux’s lips are soft, warm. His hands roam Kylo’s chest, leaving cold trails down his skin. Kylo pulls him closer, tugging roughly at Hux’s hips. He swears he feels Hux sigh against him. It makes Kylo dizzy, the way Hux’s lips chase his when he pulls back for a breath. His heart races every time he hears a gasp or a moan.

Waves of lust and desire roll off of Hux in waves, drawing Kylo closer, but there’s a little flame of warmth that keeps him there. He’s not sure what it is, but every kiss feeds it, every pull of hair and playful bite stokes it brighter. Kylo prods and pokes at it until the flames leap up to Hux’s lips and Kylo can taste it.

It’s sweet like cream, warm like sunlight, soft as a feather. It burns on his tongue, but Kylo can’t get enough. He knows what this is, but he can’t put a name to it. His mother spoke of it often, as did his friends, but the Force only ever allowed him to see it, never to touch, never to feel.

They’re pulled apart by a loud beeping sound. Kylo senses the guards outside the door before they enter and has just enough time to vault over the bed and hide on the other side of it. He winces as the motion pulls at his wound, but the pain is much more manageable with bacta. Hux stares after him, confused as to why he so suddenly pulled away and hid. There’s a flicker of disappointment and sadness, and Kylo feels guilty.

The guards rush in, boots clacking against the floor. Their weapons are aimed at nothing. “Sir, are you alright? We heard noises.”

Hux doesn’t answer immediately, and Kylo wonders how he’s going to get out of there. Once Hux tells them that he was in the room, they’ll come searching and there are only so many exists Kylo can take with three people on his tail.

He would dive for his helmet first. The guards haven’t noticed it yet, and he needs the information that it collected regardless of whether or not it’s done transferring files. The balcony would be the easiest means of escape, but he would stand a better chance running through the palace than avoiding the motion detectors again. There was also the option of hiding under the bed and waiting it out. The guards would probably notice his helmet by then, though, and there’s a high risk of getting caught. No, he’ll have to make for his helmet then run out the door.

He gets ready to bolt, concentrating on the positions of the guards. He’ll need to move before Hux tells them where he is. And then Hux speaks.

“What do you think you’re doing, barging in here in the middle of the night?!”

“What? But sir, we heard-“

“I don’t care what you think you heard,” Hux screams. “These are my private chambers. What I do in here is my business. Now, leave!”

“But—“

“There is no one here but me. If you cannot respect my privacy or trust my word, then I’ll feed you to the rancor!”

There is a moment of silence. Then, the guards’ boots snap together, likely in a salute. “Yes, sir!” they chorus. Then, the door opens and they leave.

As soon as they’re gone, Hux lets out a sigh and flops down on the bed. Kylo sits up and watches him wipe his hands over his face. Kylo reaches out to take Hux’s hand, but thinks better of it and stops mid-way. It would be easier if he didn’t get attached.

He stands, making enough noise to let Hux know he was still there, but Hux didn’t move. Kylo’s gaze lingers on him for a moment, then he moves to pick up his helmet. It’s done with the data files, so Kylo has no more reason to stay.

“Kylo?” Hux calls. Kylo turns to find him sitting on the bed, staring at him.

Kylo tries to smile. “You have a rancor?”

“Not mine. It lives in the mountain caves.”

The silence stretches between them for too long, and Kylo knows he can’t stay. He’s almost used up his hour. It’s just that the way Hux looks at him makes him reluctant to go. Kylo can sense his longing, and it’s almost too much to bear.

“I should go,” Kylo says. He turns away and gets to work putting his suit back on. His wound still stings as he tries to pull the arms of the under-armor on, however, and he winces.

Hux is at his side almost immediately. “Here, let me,” He says. Kylo lets himself be manhandled, watching Hux’s hands work. He pulls a black under-shirt over Kylo’s head, too small to really fit, but it still stretches across his chest. “To hide the hole in your armor,” Hux explains. “We wouldn’t want your team finding out where you’ve been, now would we?”

Kylo can’t bring himself to say ‘thank you.’ He really doesn’t deserve it, but the way Hux looks up at him makes him wish he did. Gripping his helmet tight, he looks away trying to ignore the guilt in his stomach. Meanwhile, Hux works Kylo back into his armor, oblivious to the subterfuge going on right under his nose.

Once everything is in place, he turns to leave. The motion sensors are still active, but with the information stored in his helmet, they shouldn’t pose much of a problem anymore. Hux doesn’t ask him to stay. He doesn’t even say ‘goodbye,’ but Kylo still hesitates to leave. There’s still one thing that’s nagging at him.

“You didn’t tell them I was here.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he can feel Hux close off, back away.

“I don’t see how I could. You disappeared when my guards appeared.”

“No, you know what I mean. The second time, you watched me jump behind your bed. You could’ve told them I was there and you didn’t.” Kylo looks out at the night. The sky is a deep shade of purple and blue with white stars dotting it in patches, but the sight does nothing to settle him.

“I…You haven’t yet told your people about me. It was only right to return the favor. ‘An eye for an eye’ and all that.” Hux’s excuse is weak. They both know it, but Kylo won’t push it any further.

“Thanks, I guess.” Kylo smooths his hair back to put on his helmet. “Goodnight, Hux. I’ll see you in a few days.”

A hand stops him before he can put his helmet on. Kylo looks back at Hux, but as soon as he turns, he’s met with a kiss. Hux pulls him close, cupping his face, and Kylo feels a rush of emotions from him, too many to sort out all at once. When they break apart, Hux lingers there, holding on to him.

“Get out,” Hux tells him, and Kylo can’t help but smile.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“That was amazing! Those frequencies worked like a charm!” Tauria laughs as the team walks into camp. “Radio waves. I didn’t even think to use radio waves to disrupt the motion detectors, let alone use these frequencies. We were practically invisible!”

“ _And_ you got the schematics to the palace!” Noburso exclaims. “I must’ve looked through every access port in the palace and I still couldn’t find it. How did you get your hands on all of this?”

Ersoona puts a hand on Kylo’s shoulder. She looks decidedly less impressed than Noburso and Tauria. “Yes, a bypass for the motion detectors, palace schematics, trooper rotation schedules, and even future battle pans. How _did_ you find all of this?”

Kylo throws up his mental barriers as the guilt hits him, knowing that Mallo would be able to sense it otherwise. “I have my ways.” He hates lying to his team, but he can’t bring himself to tell them the truth either.

“The client is calling,” Mallo says, drawing their attention to a flickering hologram. They take their places around the fire as General Organa comes appears.

“General Organa,” Kylo starts. “This is Jae-Ky, leader of the Gomun Jae, checking in with the status of your purchase.”

“Good morning, or shall I say, good evening, Gomun Jae. I trust your mission is going well?” Leia says.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says. “Tonight’s raid was very successful. We’ve learned much about the palace. Noburso, Mallo.”

Noburso steps forward, tapping a few buttons on his helmet to display the intel they gathered while Mallo starts the data transfer to Leia. “We’ve managed to acquire a full schematic of the palace. It will take some time to sort through everything and match it to what we’ve learned already, but this gives us a huge leg up. The most interesting find is the four spires at each corner of the palace. We’ve learned that they run deep into the ground, about as deep as the palace’s basement levels, but as far as we can tell they’re empty.”

“Empty?” Leia asks.

“Any scans we attempt return null results,” Tauria chimes in. “There also don’t seem to be any access points save for the tips of the spires which serve as look-out towers. We’ve tried slicing their systems, but the encryption is too heavy for us to break through without camping out in a security hub for a few days.”

Leia frowns. Specifically, she frowns at Kylo. “If security is so tight, then how did you acquire a schematic of the palace?”

That stone of guilt settles in his stomach again as she stares him down, but Kylo refuses to back down. He stares right back at her, holding his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking. “I picked a security chip off a guard and happened to slice the right console.”

“I see.”

Lying like that makes him feel like a kid again, staring up at his mother, adamantly denying he took an X-Wing for a joy ride, even though he was still wearing the pilot’s helmet. And just like back then, Leia doesn’t look fooled in the slightest, though she gives him the courtesy of not saying anything in front of his team.

“Well, this data will be very useful. Thank you, Gomun Jae. I look forward to your next transmission. Jae-Ky, if I could speak with you in private?” Kylo tries to hold back a scowl. He doesn’t want to explain himself, but he knows Leia. She won’t give up until she gets what she wants.

Mallo transfers the call to Kylo’s personal comm and the team moves away to give them some privacy. “What do you need, General?” Kylo asks.

“Don’t play that game with me, Ben. This didn’t work when you were ten, and it won’t work now. Tell me what’s going on.”

His free hand balls into a fist. She always demands to know things. She never asks, never considers that Kylo may not want to share. “I swiped a security key off of a guard. It gave me enough access to get a schematic of the palace.”

“Don’t lie to me. I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“That is what happened, General. I have nothing more to re-“

“Ben.” She cuts him, just like she always does.

Ben clenches his teeth, trying to breathe, stay calm. He can’t just tell her about Hux, but he knows Leia won’t leave him alone until she has an answer she’s satisfied with. “I…I have a contact on the inside.”

“A mole?” Leia asks, looking more convinced than Kylo thought she’d be. “Do they want anything in return?”

“I’m not sure yet.” It’s the truth, technically. Kylo doesn’t know if Hux wants anything from him.

Leia looks away, contemplating something, then frowns at Kylo again, studying him. After a moment, she seems to relent. “Very well,” she says. “Find out if we can trust them and report back as soon as you can. It would be very valuable to have someone on the inside.”

“Of course, General.”

Leia gives him one last look, like she can sense that he’s lying to her from the other side of the galaxy, but she cuts off the transmission instead of saying anything further. He lets out a breath as soon as the holo-image fades away. The guilt still weighs on him. It’s usually easier for him to lie, for him to not care about it, so he’s not sure why it’s so hard now. Hell, he’s not even sure why he’s lying anymore.

He looks to his team, where they’re gathered around their tents, discussing whether to hunt for their dinner or eat more ration packs. They’ll have more questions for him, no doubt, but it’s much easier to convince them than his own mother. Maybe he won’t be able to lie forever, but for now, his secret is safe.

 

 


	4. Sunset

 

The days drag on longer and longer. Though their plan is close to being complete, Hux feels like the day is years away. All he ever does is sit through meetings, run inspections of the palace’s offensive and defensive capabilities, make speeches to please the people under his rule. It’s tedious and tiring. He finds his mind wandering throughout the day, back to that night that Kylo kissed him. Or rather, the night he kissed Kylo.

He’s not sure what possessed him to do it. Maybe it was just that Kylo was so close and guilt of shooting him at point-blank range was weighing on him. Maybe it was out of pity, because Kylo was in so much agony that Hux could feel it, like he had been the one shot. But, it wasn’t because of how Kylo’s lips looked delectable, or because of how his lazy smile make Hux’s face feel hot. And it definitely wasn’t because of how strong he looked, with those muscles that could press him into the bed, hold him down, fuck him until—

“Your Majesty?” Phasma’s voice cuts through his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. He spaced out during another meeting. When he looks up, twenty officers look back at him expectantly, including General Phasma and Kreia Ren.

“Yes. I apologize,” He pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore way his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “Let’s reconvene tomorrow. You’re all dismissed.”

The officers in the room regard him warily, but they didn’t question him. One by one they left the room and left Hux to his thoughts.

“Perhaps you should retire early tonight,” Phasma says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Keep your balcony doors closed this time.”

Hux hummed in agreement. “Perhaps I will.” The stress of everything was getting to him. Phasma’s plan was a sound one, but he wasn’t confident he could get to sleep so easily.

Gathering his coat and datapad, Hux makes to leave the room as well, but Kreia catches his eye and stops him. She stares at him, impassive and predatory. It sends a shiver down his spine and makes the room feel ten degrees colder.

“Is there something you needed, Lord Ren?” He asks, trying not to betray the fear in his heart.

Kreia Ren is a monster. She is cunning, ruthless, and has a blood lust that rivals that of the old Sith of legend. She has no equal, no rival, save for her own ambition. It is by luck alone that she chose to bow to Hux. Killing her old master was more of a game than a challenge. Hux wouldn’t have stood a chance, but she bent the knee and swore her sword to his cause.

It is by Hux’s leadership and wisdom that the First Order has become as grand as it is, reaching from one end of Uncharted Space to the other, and bleeding into the Outer Rim. But it is by Kreia’s power and might that Hux stayed emperor. She chose him to lead, and the older, more decorated members of the Order weren’t about to disagree.

There is no one in the galaxy that Hux is more terrified of than her.

She doesn’t move from her place at the far end of the room. “You’re distracted,” she tells him.

“I’m sorry?” Hux asks. He gets an uneasy feeling as she watches him, though he always does when she’s around.

“You need to take care of this problem. It’s becoming a distraction to you and the rest of your officers.”

Hux’s stomach churns uncomfortably. He knows Kreia has read his mind. He couldn’t stop her if he tried, and he’s tried. He was hoping to keep this matter to himself, but he knew he couldn’t keep it from her for long. “I’m taking care of it.”

Kreia scoffs. “Do not lie to me, your majesty. It’s unbecoming. You’ve had three chances to rid yourself of this problem and you’ve failed each time. Perhaps I should just finish him off.”

 “No,” he says, trying to ignore the shadow creeping into his mind. He can feel it, feel _her_ , like a parasite. “You have to maintain the barrier. It’s the only thing between us and the Resistance.”

“My Knights can go a cycle without me. The Resistance, however, is already here, your Majesty. It would be much more effective if I just wiped out their entire operation.” A dreamy look crosses her face, and Hux knows she’s thinking of all the ways she could dispose of Kylo and his team. It makes him sick.

“I can handle this,” Hux tells her, though he knows she’s right.

“You can’t. I’m going after him.” She turns to leave, but Kreia grabs her by the arm as she passes.

“You don’t even know if it _is_ the Resistance!” Hux exclaims. “I forbid you to go!”

He hears the sickening crack of Kreia’s lightsaber activating, and then the tip of the blade is pointed at his throat, close enough for him to feel the sparking energy that the weapon gives off. It feels like his skin is burning hot, searing off of his bones. He breathes slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth, and somehow manages to appear calm despite the fear coursing through his veins.

“ _You_ do _not_ command me.” Kreia’s voice is barely above a whisper. She could kill him if she wanted to, and Hux isn’t entirely sure that she won’t.

“Forgive me, Lord Ren.” He hates saying those words. He hates submitting to someone else when he knows he has the entire galaxy in the palm of his hand…well, almost the entire galaxy. “I meant to say, that the matter is trivial. It would be a waste of your time to go after him. I can take care of the matter.”

“Obviously, you can’t.” She lowers her lightsaber and turns to leave the room. “I’ll give you a week to take care of it. If he’s not dead or off of this planet by then, then I’m going after him. Stick to ruling the galaxy, Hux. It suits you better.”

Hux is paralyzed for a few moments after she’s left. His mind races with everything that Kreia said. Kylo is a Jedi. Kylo is about to die. Kreia is going to kill him. It’s for the better, probably. That loose end would be tied off and their plan will continue on schedule. Kylo would die, but the Order would thrive.

So, why is he still so afraid?

Wiping a hand over his face, Hux looks out the window and wishes he was back among the stars. Nothing made him feel more calm, more powerful than floating alongside the cosmos. It was his escape when his responsibilities as Emperor, when Kreia was too much to handle. Here, on a planet, on the ground, he felt so trapped, small, insignificant.

The sun is setting in the sky, and it makes him think of what Kylo said. Kylo loves the sky. He loves the way it changes from planet to planet, the way colors bleed into each other depending on the system’s sun, but the stars always look the same. He looks down to the city below, the beach, the forest, the mountains. It reminded him how small he is, to be around things so much larger. None of it would matter once their plans are finished. The people here wouldn’t matter, the planet wouldn’t matter…Kylo wouldn’t matter.

Orange bleeds into purple on the horizon, and Hux knows the stars will be out soon. He presses his hand against the plexiglas, urging the sun to set faster. His arms and legs feel frozen as he stands there, waiting.

And then, something calls to him. Hux comms the shuttle bay, telling them to prepare his personal speeder. The thought of being stuck in his palace, stuck in a place where there is always a light to distort the beauty of the stars is suffocating. His body moves of its own accord, changing into something less stiff, driving the speeder bike away from the palace. He’s not sure where he’s going, as long as it’s away from that palace.

It isn’t long before he’s surrounded by the forest. There’s only a dim light streaming through the trees to guide his path, but it’s enough. The ride along the forest path is quiet, beautiful even as the sun sets, but Hux doesn’t pay attention to it. Hux swerves through the brush, only focused on running away. Each turn becomes tighter as the forest grows denser. He dodges trees and rocks and bushes, and he hardly realizes there are tears streaming down his face until he slams on the breaks, stopping the speeder centimeters away from the edge of a cliff. A few loose rocks break off and tumble over the edge, dislodged by Hux’s disturbance. His heart beats hard in his chest, veins pumping with adrenaline as he looks to where he could’ve fallen. He wouldn’t have survived that. Hell, his body might’ve been lost forever.

But then he looks up at the sky, and gets to watch the sun set. With his heart pounding in his chest, Hux watches the last bits of yellow fade away, the fires of orange calm into a cloud of purple, and then it all vanishes like a wisp of smoke, leaving nothing but a sea of black space, speckled with white stars. Hux sighs, leaning forward on his bike and resting his head on his arms. From here, the palace looks so small. It’s just as small and insignificant as anything else, compared to those stars.

 

“I told you it was beautiful.”

Hux whips around as soon as he hears the voice, drawing his blaster and shooting into the trees. His heart is pounding in his ears. When he stills, and concentrates on the trees, he can see a dark figure moving along the branches, looking back at him. He shoots again, keeping an eye on the figure, but it’s quick and evades every shot he takes.

He’s not trying to kill it, not really. Hux knows who’s hiding in the trees, playing this game with him, but he gets off of his speeder and keeps shooting anyway. He shoots to the figures left and right, missing on purpose. He almost laughs when one of those purposeful misfires almost hits the target.

But Hux tires of the game, eventually. He lowers his blaster and looks up into the trees. “Stop this, Kylo. I know it’s you.”

He turns back to the cliff, and as soon as he does, the trees rustle and something heavy drops down behind him. Hux doesn’t acknowledge Kylo again, but sits at the edge of the cliff and looks up at the stars again.

A breeze blows through his hair. What product remained in it made it stick up at a weird angle, but Hux couldn’t be bothered to fix it. He shivers with the wind, realizing he neglected to bring a coat on his way out. Something heavy is placed on his shoulders as soon as he thinks of how cold he is. It’s thick and warm, and Hux knows better than to question it as he pulls it around himself.

Kylo sits down next to him, but it’s a while before either of them say a word. When Kylo does speak, he doesn’t sound like himself at all. “Did you come out here to see me?” He asks, voice too timid, and eyes too big.

He doesn’t look at Hux, but Hux looks at him, and wonders if he did. “I came out here to think,” Hux says, looking back at the sky.

“Oh.” Pretending. He’s pretending he’s okay with that answer, and Hux knows because he can hear the disappointment hidden beneath it.

Hux sighs. “Don’t be so full of yourself. I didn’t know you would be out here. Besides, if I came out here for you, I’d be pointing my blaster at your forehead.” He hears a snort that could be a laugh, and decides that his head is much too heavy to hold up by himself. Kylo’s shoulder isn’t exactly what he’d call comfortable, but it would do.

“I miss the stars,” Hux finds himself saying. He shouldn’t be talking to Kylo, shouldn’t be sitting there with him, but the words come out so easily.

“They’re right there,” Kylo says.

“I want to be out there with them. I want to be up in space.”

“But you can’t see the constellations from space.”

“…what do you mean?”

Kylo smiles and leans closer to him. He points at a cluster of stars, drawing invisible lines with his finger. “Right there is a boma, and its tail points to a crown. Over there, there’s a battalion of troops, and just above them is a tarisian rose.”

Hux follows along as Kylo speaks, and he can see the pictures in the sky. Kylo must have pointed out a dozen of them, but Hux misses most of them because he’s lost in the sound of Kylo’s voice.

“And right there is my favorite one.” Hux follows his finger to a patch of sky right above the city. “It’s two birds. A blue jay and a wren. No matter what planet I’m on, I can always see this constellation. It reminds me of my cousin.”

“Are you close?” Hux asks. He can’t see the birds.

“We were. I…We lost her about eight years ago. She was ten. I was…stupid.” Kylo leans more heavily on him, and Hux puts his hand on the ground to support them.

“I’m sorry,” Hux says. He keeps staring at that cluster of stars, trying to see the birds.

“It’s alright. It happened a while ago.”

“I can’t see the birds,” Hux tells him. His eyes keep searching, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t see the birds.

Kylo laughs, instead of trying to point out the constellation to him. “If you don’t see the birds, then what _do_ you see?”

Hux narrows his eyes, tracing lines with his gaze. “I see…a cloud. A rain cloud.” It’s almost as if the constellation is moving. Hux sees the cloud, but he also sees the rain falling from it. He sees the lightning, the droplets falling on the ground, on a child, on him. “It’s Arkanis.”

“What’s on Arkanis?” Kylo asks. Something covers Hux’s hand, something warm and big.

“Home…it _was_ on Arkanis. Not anymore.”

They’re silent again, and Kylo kisses his head. It’s nice, too nice; Sitting there with him, stargazing, hand-in-hand, leaning against one another. This is something Hux has always wanted, and yet…

“I should go,” Hux says abruptly. He practically runs away from Kylo, getting up before he can convince himself he’s too warm and comfortable to leave.

“What? But you just got here,” Kylo complains. His hand follows Hux’s as Hux stands, but Kylo doesn’t try to pull him back down.

“No, I didn’t tell any of my guards where I was going. They’ll send out search parties.” Hux drapes the cloak around Kylo’s shoulders. The night is cold without it.

“They can survive without you for a bit.”

“No,” Hux forces himself to say. His heart hurts, so he turns away from Kylo. He doesn’t want those eyes haunting him at night anymore than they already do. “I have to go. I shouldn’t have…you shouldn’t come to see me anymore.”

“Hux.” Kylo stands. He puts a hand on Hux’s shoulder.

“No! You… I don’t know what I was thinking, letting you climb all over my bed, kiss me, and…You’re not welcome in my palace anymore. You never were, but I’m not going to let you escape if you come back again.” Hux reaches out for his speeder, but he doesn’t get on it. He hovers there, waiting for Kylo to say something, anything.

“Hux, come here,” Kylo whispers.

The words stop Hux in his tracks. There’s such power behind them, even though they’re spoken so softly, gently. Hux find himself taking deep breaths, trying to move forward when all he wants to do is move back.

Kylo grabs his arm. “Quickly,” He whispers. Then, he’s pulling Hux back towards the trees. Hux flails a bit, shocked that Kylo was suddenly manhandling him.

“What are you doing? Let go of me!” Hux struggles against his grip, trying to pry his arm from Kylo’s hand, but a single look back makes Hux cooperate.

Kylo looks afraid. Of what, Hux couldn’t say, but the fear was there in his eyes, in his voice, and how quickly he moved Hux into the shadows.

“Kylo, what’s going on?” Hux whispers back to him. Kylo pins him against a tree, then looks up, around at the branches like something is about to jump out at them.

“Stop talking, or they’ll hear you.”

“Who will hear me?”

“Shut up!”

“You shut-mph!”

Kylo’s lips press against his, effectively shutting him up. Hux is too shocked to move at first, but he feels Kylo’s lips move against his, and he can’t help it if he kisses back. Kylo presses him against the tree, and Hux can do nothing but take it. He sighs, melts into the warmth that surrounds him. He doesn’t want it to stop.

But it’s over too soon, and those lips are gone from his own. Kylo doesn’t move far. He just breaks the kiss and looks back at Hux, breathing hard. Hux is breathing hard too. His cheeks must be flushed but he doesn’t care.

 _“Can you be quiet now?”_ Hux hears Kylo ask, but maybe he imagined it because he didn’t see Kylo’s lips move. Hux nods timidly, then feels stupid for answering a question Kylo probably didn’t ask.

He watches Kylo, waiting for what might come next, but Kylo doesn’t move. His arms are on either side of Hux’s head, a familiar position for them, but Hux doesn’t feel so trapped this time. He reaches up between them, trailing a hand along the side of Kylo’s face. Kylo doesn’t respond. His eyes look glazed over, like his mind is somewhere far away.

Hux brushes a thumb over his cheek, and leans in for another kiss. When he closes his eyes, it’s like he’s walking on air. He quite literally can’t feel the ground beneath his feet, or the shape of Kylo’s face in his hands, or even his own body. When he opens his eyes again, Hux sees himself as if he was watching a holo. He sees the trees and people in the trees. He sees Phasma inside the palace, finishing up her nightly rounds, telling the guards not to worry that Hux isn’t in the palace. He sees Kylo. He _feels_ Kylo. He feels something moving through Kylo, like a burst of light, or a raging sea. It’s warm but cold, surrounding but small, solid but flowing, and most of all it feels loving and kind.

“Ehret is someone ehre. I ma sure of ti.” Hux hears words, but they’re jumbled, unclear. It’s the people in the trees talking to one another.

“Wvee scoutde the area tiwec but rheet no sign of nyaone.”

“Era you suer uyo felt somethign?”

“Yes. Jae-Ky is here.”

Hux’s attention is drawn to the one who spoke real words. The being looks at Kylo. Slowly, it starts creeping towards him, but then it stops and looks right at Hux. His eyes narrow, and Hux feels afraid.

“Mallo, wath is ti?”

“Someone else is here.”

The others look around, but only the one being seems to see him. Hux knows he should run, but his feet won’t carry him away. So, he retreats back to himself, instead, the him that’s trapped between Kylo and the tree. He hides there, within himself, because it seems like the safest place, the best option. The moment Hux touches himself, he feels like he’s being sucked into a vortex. His head swims and his body shakes, but he doesn’t feel like he’s moved.

After a moment, he can’t hear the voices anymore. Slowly, carefully he opens his eyes. As he does, Kylo breaks away from him. Kylo’s eyes aren’t glazed over anymore, and Hux can no longer see himself. Hux looks up into the trees, but he sees no other beings. It’s just them.

“What was that?” Hux asks.

Kylo collapses before he can answer. Hux catches him, surprised, worried, confused. His exhaustion screams out through the limp heaviness of his body. Hux lowers him gently to sit back against the tree.  

“Kylo, what happened?” Hux asks again. His mind is swimming with a thousand thoughts. Who were those beings? Were they Kylo’s team? Why could he see himself? Why could only one of them see him? Who is Jae-Ky? He feels uneasy, dizzy, afraid, but also calm and serene.

The questions are pushed to the back of his mind when Kylo grabs his hand. “You have to leave,” he says, breathing hard. “They’ll be back. You have to go.”

Hux hesitates. He knows nothing about what just happened to them, but Kylo wants him to leave?

“I’ll tell you everything later, but they can’t find you out here. Please, Hux.” He sounds so desperate. What does he care if Hux is caught, especially if it’s by his own team?

He almost says no, but something calls him back to the palace. It’s like a warning in the back of his mind. “…fine,” he says. He stands, but as he turns away, he feels guilty for leaving Kylo there by himself. He’d be much safer going with Hux.

Suddenly, Kylo laughs. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright,” he says. “Rey would kill me if I went back with you.”

Hux hesitates at the side of his speeder, but Kylo urges him to leave again. So, he does, and he walks away with so many more questions and problems than he arrived with. He’s tempted to search for the beings who couldn’t see him as he drives back, but the forest distracts him. It glows in a way that it never has before. He can see balls of light coming from the trees, the grass, flowers. Little sparks glide across the sky like birds, and bounce around the ground like wild game. He wonders if his eyes are playing tricks on him.

Kreia is waiting for him when he returns. She lurks by the bay entrance like a shadow, but she doesn’t stand tall and defiant. As Hux approaches, he sees her curled into herself, leaning against a wall.

“Lord Ren, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asks.

“I don’t know how I was so blind. Of course, your intruder is _him_ ,” she hisses. Hux can practically feel the dark energy swirling around her. It’s terrifying, the way it lashes out of its own accord like the tentacles of a sarlacc pit. Hux wonders if the dark cloud he sees around her has always been there.

“And who might _he_ be?” Hux asks, though he suspects he already knows.

“You know full well who _he_ is and what he’s capable of! Still, you let him gallivant around the planet with his pathetic groupies.” She surges forward, pulling Hux down with the Force so that they’re eye-to-eye. She snarls at him, and the cloud around her grows darker, stormier. Yet, through the anger, Hux can sense her fear, her anxieties, and he doesn’t feel afraid. Kreia realizes this, too.

“What did he do to you?” She whispers.

Hux feels something push on his mind. It’s like a claw of molten steel trying to pry his skull open. He knows the feeling; Kreia has stolen thoughts from his mind before, and he could never stop her. But, when he pushes back, she recoils as if he punched her. She’s visibly shocked, something Hux has seen only a handful of times.

Then she puts her hand on his face and claws her way in again. This time, when Hux tries to stop her, he’s helpless to her advances. That claw burns him from the inside out, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared. It seems Kreia didn’t have to dig deep to find what she was looking for. Hux drops to the ground when she lets him go. No one comes to his aid, but he doesn’t blame them. No one but him could cross Kreia Ren and live, and even he was on thin ice.

“You’re a fool,” she spits at him. “I’m taking my Knights and leaving.”

“You can’t!” Hux says, pushing past the pounding in his head. He looks up at her, and she looks just as terrifying as ever. He cannot feel a hint of doubt or anxiety, and the black storm cloud has disappeared. “The Resistance-“

“Is already here.” She interrupts.

“How do you know that?” Hux asks. He feels afraid, suddenly. The serene calm from before is gone, replaced with exhaustion and confusion.

She walks off, leaving Hux on the ground behind her. “Why don’t you ask Kylo?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's one thing I actually like about this fic, it's darkside!Rey. She's so cool, and I love the name "Kreia Ren."


End file.
